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LEGO Group
The LEGO Group is a Danish family-owned company based in Billund, Denmark, and best known for their manufacture of LEGO-brand toys. The company was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Christiansen. The word LEGO is derived from the Danish words "leg godt" which in Danish means "play well". Then in Latin means "put together".Wikipedia, article 1 History The LEGO Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter from Billund, Denmark. Christiansen started creating wooden toys in 1932, but it was not until 1949 that the famous plastic LEGO brick was created. The design of LEGO bricks changed considerably until the late '50s. The company name "LEGO" was coined by Christiansen from the Danish phrase "leg godt", meaning "play well". The LEGO Group claims that "LEGO" means "I put together" or "I assemble" in Latin, though this is a rather liberal translation. In 1947, Christiansen and Godtfred, Christiansen's son, obtained samples of interlocking plastic bricks produced by the company Kiddicraft via a London-based injection molding equipment manufacturer which was interested in developing its equipment sales in Denmark. The initial response from Mr. Christiansen was skeptical, but the company that produced the Kiddicraft bricks said, "You could be making these rather than your wooden toys". The name "London Injection Molders" appears beneath early Kiddicraft bricks. These "Kiddicraft Self-Locking Building Bricks" were designed and patented in the UK by Mr. Hilary Harry Fisher Page, a child psychologist, who in 1957 took his own life, before the product saw any of its later success. In 1949, LEGO began producing similar bricks, calling them "Automatic Binding Bricks". These bricks, manufactured from cellulose acetate, were developed in the spirit of traditional wooden blocks that could be stacked upon one another; however, these plastic bricks could be "locked" together. They had several round "studs" on top, and a hollow rectangular bottom. They would stick together, but not so tightly that they could not be pulled apart. The use of plastic for toy manufacturing was not highly regarded by retailers and consumers at the time. Many of the LEGO Group's shipments were returned, following poor sales; it was thought that plastic toys could never replace wooden ones. By 1954, Godtfred had become the junior managing director of the LEGO Group. It was his conversation with an overseas buyer that inspired the idea of a toy system. Godtfred saw the immense potential in LEGO bricks to become a system for creative play, but the bricks still had some problems from a technical standpoint: their "locking" ability was limited, and they were not very versatile. It was not until 1958 that the modern-day brick design was developed. The bricks were improved with hollow tubes in the underside of the brick. This added support in the base, enabling much better locking ability and improved versatility. That same year, Ole Kirk Christiansen died, and Godtfred inherited leadership of the company. In 1963, the material used to create LEGO bricks, cellulose acetate, was dropped in favor of more stable acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, or ABS plastic, which is still used today. ABS is non-toxic, less prone to discoloration and warping, and is also more resistant to heat, acids, salt, and other chemicals than cellulose acetate. LEGO bricks manufactured from ABS plastic in 1963 still hold most of their shape and color 40 years later, and still neatly interlock with LEGO bricks manufactured today. Over the years many more LEGO sets, series, and pieces were created, with many innovative improvements and additions, culminating into the colorful versatile building toys that we know today. The company was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in 2004 by Working Mothers magazine. The company moved production of its Creator brand to Nyíregyháza, Hungary, while Duplo is already being produced in Sárvár, Hungary. The company will also move production of its bricks to the Czech Republic. Wikipedia History of LEGO, article 2 References #Wikipedia article #Wikipedia History of LEGO article External links *Official website